Panthers Travel To In-State Rival Penn State For B1G/ACC Challenge On Thursday

PITTSBURGH – The Pitt women's basketball team (3-4, 0-0 ACC) will collide with in-state rival Penn State on the hardwood on Thursday night in the B1G/ACC Challenge hosted by the Lady Lions. The two teams will be squaring off for the 43^rd time in program history with tip set for 7:00 pm on the Big Ten Network Plus.

Pitt notched their second win in five tries in the B1G/ACC Challenge last season as they went to Northwestern and beat the Wildcats, 52-49, behind a strong defensive effort and 10 points from Kyla Nelson.

HOW TO FOLLOW

Thursday's game against Penn State will air on the Big Ten Network Plus or it can be streamed online by clicking HERE.
Fans can also listen to the game on the radio by tuning into 1320 AM WJAS or by clicking HERE. The voice of the Pitt women's basketball team, Josh Rowntree, will get you started for game action at 6:45 pm with the pregame show leading up to tip at 7:00 pm.
Live stats for the game can be found by clicking HERE.
Live updates throughout the game will also be posted on Twitter by following the Pitt women's basketball account @Pitt_WBB.

THE SERIES

This meeting marks the 43^rd meeting between the two programs all-time with the Lady Lions owning the 29-13 series advantage over the Panthers.
Penn State has won three straight in the series including last time the two sides played in 2017 as they handed Pitt the 59-48 defeat at the Petersen Events Center.
The last time Pitt defeated Penn State was on Nov. 24, 2008 when they cruised to an 80-59 victory on their home court.
Penn State is 18-1 all-time at home against the Panthers with Pitt's lone road win in the series coming on Nov. 30, 1988 as they downed the Lady Lions 74-70.

A WIN WOULD...

Give Pitt two straight wins for the first time this season.
Be the 14^th victory over Penn State in the all-time series.
Give the Panthers two straight victories in the B1G/ACC Challenge for the first time in program history.
Mark the 36^th victory for Pitt over an opponent from the B1G.

STORYLINES

An emphasis for the Panthers this season has been rebounding the basketball and over the last four games they have taken that to heart. Pitt has grabbed 45+ rebounds in four straight games for the first time since the 2009-10 season. Last time out, the Panthers grabbed 45 rebounds in the win over Ole Miss. Over the last four games, Pitt owns a 47.2 to 36.8 edge in rebounds per game.
The new-look Pitt lineup is relying heavily on newcomers this season as the six newcomers combine for 37.0 points/game or 59.7% of the Panthers scoring this season.

THE OPENING TIP

Pitt hits the road on Thursday night to take on Penn State in a B1G/ACC Challenge contest. Tip is set for 7:00 pm in Happy Valley.
Graduate student-athlete Aysia Bugg leads the team in scoring (16.3 ppg) while connecting on a team-high 19 three-pointers. She has scored in double figures six times and 20+ points twice so far this season.
Forward Amber Brown is averaging 14.0 points and 6.3 rebounds while shooting 46.9% from the floor over her last three games. She leads the team with three double-doubles.
Rita Igbokwe had a breakout weekend in Daytona Beach as she averaged 6.0 points and 11.0 rebounds across the two games.

LAST TIME OUT

Pitt bounced back with a victory in the second game of the Daytona Beach Invitational over the Ole Miss Rebels on Saturday afternoon, 58-50.
Aysia Bugg led the way for the Panthers with 20 points and five rebounds while freshman Amber Brown notched her third double-double of the season with 14 points and 10 rebounds in the win.
The Panthers won the rebounding battle 45-32 while also scoring 20 points off of 16 Rebels' turnovers.

B1G/ACC CHALLENGE HISTORY

Pitt will collide with Penn State for the 43rd time on Thursday as they will compete in the 2019 B1G/ACC Challenge inside the Bryce Jordan Center in State College, Pa.
The game will be Pitt's sixth in the Challenge as a member of the ACC as they own a 2-3 all-time record.
Pitt claimed just their second win in the Challenge last season as they took down Northwestern on the road, 52-49.
The ACC owns nine Challenge titles (9-0-3) and an 89-61 overall mark in Challenge games since its inception in 2007. The ACC has won at least six games in each season.

YEAR                    OPPONENT                        RESULT                SCORE
2014-15               at Ohio State W                          78-74
2015-16               at Michigan L 82-45
2016-17               Purdue L 67-61
2017-18               Wisconsin L 58-57
2018-19               at Northwestern W 52-49

BUGGIN' OUT

After receiving a waiver for her sixth season of eligibility in the summer, graduate student Aysia Bugg has been the best player on the court for the Panthers across the first seven games.
Last time out, Bugg got back on track offensively and netted a team-high 20 points and five boards in the win over Ole Miss. She now has six games in double figures and two games of 20+ points.
For the season, Bugg leads the team averaging 34.9 minutes, 16.3 points, 2.7 rebounds and 1.7 assists while connecting on a team-high 19 three pointers and shooting 35.8% from deep.
Bugg has led the team in scoring four times this season and 16 times in her career.
The team captain enters this season as the lone player in the ACC to have 700+ points, 300+ assists and 200+ rebounds in her career.
Bugg missed all of the 2017-18 campaign due to a torn ACL and after a strong start to her 2018-19 campaign, she missed the final 26 games after suffering from blood clots.
Bugg is just 173 points shy 1,000 for her career as she would become the 20th member of the Panthers 1,000 point club. She is also just 46 assists away from 10th place on the Panthers all-time assists charts.

WHAT CAN BROWN DO FOR YOU?

Freshman forward Amber Brown will be asked to play big minutes down low for the Panthers this season and she seems ready for the challenge.
Last time out, Brown continued her strong play for the Panthers as she netted a double-double with 14 points, 10 rebounds and two steals across 33 minutes of work.
The freshman has now posted a team-high three double-doubles on the season, the most in a season by a Pitt freshman since Brenna Wise recorded five in 2015-16. Pitt notched three double-doubles as a team a season ago.
On the year, Brown is averaging 11.1 points and a team-high 8.0 rebounds while connecting on 45.9% of her shots from the field and 71.0% of her free throw opportunities.
Brown has grabbed at least four rebounds in each of her seven games this season while posting four games with 10+ rebounds.

The freshman has played 30+ minutes in six straight games for the Panthers.

Earlier this season, Brown became the first Panther since Stasha Carey in 2015-16 to notch three straight games with 10+ rebounds. She is also the first freshman to do so since Carey did it in the 2014-15 season

IGBOKWE MANS THE PAINT FOR PITT

Freshman forward Rita Igbokwe has shown major growth since coming to Pitt and she will be leaned on heavily in the paint this season.
She had the best game of her young career against Ohio as she posted an impressive stat line of 29 minutes, nine points, 18 rebounds and six blocks.
The 18-rebound effort by Igbokwe against the Bobcats marked the most rebounds in a game by a Pitt player since Chelsea Cole in 2010 and the most by a Pitt freshman since Mercedes Walker in 2005.
She also notched a career-high six blocks in the Ohio game, the most in a game for a Panther since Monica Wignot had nine rejections against Georgia Tech in 2015.
The freshman is averaging 16.1 minutes, 3.4 points, 6.4 rebounds and a team-high 1.9 blocks on the year.

CLEANING THE GLASS

Coach White has preached all season long that winning the battle of the boards is a key to victory.
The Panthers have been rebounding the basketball at a high rate of late, grabbing 45+ rebounds in four straight games for the first time since the 2009-10 season.
Last time out, Pitt recorded 45 rebounds and limited Ole Miss to just 32 as they are 2-2 on the year when out-rebounding the opponent.
Pitt has grabbed 189 rebounds over the last four games, the most over a four game stretch since grabbing 205 over four games in 2010.
Over their last four games, the Panthers are out-rebounding their opponents by an average of 10.4 rebounds/game.
Over the last two seasons, Pitt owns a 7-3 record when grabbing at least 40 rebounds in a game.

NEXT UP

Pitt will return home for two straight as they welcome Stony Brook to the Pete on Sunday, Dec. 8 for a 2:00 pm tip. They will wrap up their home non-conference slate with a meeting with Miami (OH) on Tuesday, Dec. 17 at 6:30 pm on the ACC Network.
The Panthers will conclude their non-conference slate on Dec. 21 as they head to Cincinnati to take on the Bearcats at 2:00 pm.

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